Shattered Dreams and Broken Promises
by Black Rosetta
Summary: Ex lovers are confronted, friendships are tested, betrayls, deceit, love&desperation all end at the point of a sword.The Shichinintai are resurected&Inuyasha once loved their fallen comrade,Kagome named her a best friend.BOOK 2 OF DEMON HUNTERS SAGA, R&R!
1. Through the Threshold

**_"Kagome! Run!"_**

**_Inuyasha wasted no time; he shoved Kagome past him with such brute force, she went hurling into a crowd of sakura trees. She scrambled madly across the ground before a neurotic Inuyasha snatched her, tightly, by the wrist._**

**_They took off in a mad dash through the tempest of ivory sakura blossoms, running blindly, hindered by the autumn twilight. Inuyasha half dragged, half guided Kagome, in his haste, she'd abandoned her bow and arrow--a mistake she sorely regretted._**

**_Languor settled over her, her legs seemed to move slower and slower, and despite the pained heaving of her lungs, she could not force her body to run faster. Kagome knew not why she ran, knew not what pursued them so relentlessly through the descending darkness. _**

**_Where was Sango? Where was Miroku? Shippo and Kirara?_**

**_"Inuyasha!" she screamed, faint and listless. Her voice was lost in the insistent wind._**

**_Blazing light spilled out of a coven of sakura, several feet behind her. Inuyasha snarled, leaping into the air. He flew, Kagome straggling behind as light continued to splash out through random sects of trees, closing in on the two, barely grazing Inuyasha's robe of the fire rat._**

**_"Damn it Kagome!" he chided, finally picking her up and slinging her over his shoulder. She shriek as her feet left them ground, hearing Inuyasha muttering a string of curses under his breath about the slowness of humans._**

**_As he leapt higher, they soared into the distance, leaving their unknown predator in the darkness behind. Upon bursting into the threshold, pandemonium ceased and instantly, it dawn on Kagome where it is they were; In the meadow of the Sacred Tree, where Kikyo first bound Inuyasha with the spell of her sacred arrow._**

_**Kagome slid down from his shoulder, Inuyasha relinquished the stone grip he had on her hand, lost within the thoughts of his own mind. **We're back...to where it all began. _

**_Inuyasha stepped forward, lost in lethargy and painful memories. Oblivious, he left Kagome's side, as if lured by the sacred tree's prescence. She reached for him, moving through the swaying grasses and casablancas to catch up to him. No noticing the moon float idly from behind dark clouds, bathing the meadow in a silver glow. The pure white sakura blossoms fell like snow, the scent so magnificently intoxicating, like rippling water..._**

_**A thought struck her, **The scent of water?_

**_Inuyasha stood before the tree, the tip of one forefinger tracing along the chink in the bark where Kikyo's arrow had pierced the trunk."Kikyo..." he soothed, yearnful and nostalgic, closing his eyes and reminiscing about his forlorn priestess, not remembering how he loved another._**

**_Kagome heard his whisper, his plea to Kikyo and her heart heaved, fury licking at her chest, jealousy churning inside her belly. After all this time, after all they've been through...all Inuyasha still thought of was Kikyo. She blinked back tears, feeling foolish for ever believing that he could be over Kikyo._**

**_In the midst of all their emotions, several things occurred. The sakura blossoms forced like a blizzard, sending a dazed Kagome thrashing to the lush, green earth. _**

**_Inuyasha snapped back,startled."Kagome!" he called out to saved her when a flare of spiritual light caught at his sleeve, snaring him to the sacred tree; like deja vu, another flare struck his other sleeve, at his shoulders. Incandescent light blazed into the meadow, washing past a archway of trees, like twilight breaking into night._**

_**Kagome watched, helplessly, as Inuyasha struggled. **No! **she first thought of when Menomaru turned her enemy to Inuyasha, how she had--against her will-- almost repeated history. **I cannot take losing him again!**"Inuyasha!" in seconds, she was on her feet, dashing to his side. **_

**_Only one person could trap Inuyasha within the spell of the sacred tree. Kikyo! But why? Why again? Why now? Kagome reached for the light that bound him, only to have it repel her touch._**

_There was no way! The arrow rejected me!, **Kagome gasped, in terror and anxiety. She was kikyo's reincarnation! Why did the arrows reject her?**_

_**Inuyasha's notrils flared, his eyes wide in fury, " Kagome what the hell? Stop joking around and pull out the damn arrow!"**_

**_"I'm trying!" she squealed, her voice breaking; it was fear that now turned in her belly. Fear of loss, fear of losing Inuyasha forever._**

**_The light dispersed at Inuyasha shoulders. To their astounding horror, it was not arrows that held him._**

_**Saias', worn at the hilt, the blades thronged and steel enforced, overlayed with silver; the ancient kanji for** Twilight Eclipse **engraved into the obsidian blades. Inuyasha** **paled, an understanding washing over him.**_

_"Inuyasha!"_

**_A woman's voice, not like any Kagome has ever heard. Carnal and mellifluent, with a hint of scorn in it like dark music. It pulled at Kagome's soul like a string, turning her head. Inuyasha stared, in a mesmeric thrall. It was several decades ago, since she last fell upon Inuyasha's gaze. Though age was unknown now, time never seemed to touch her._**

**_And Kaede's words returned to haunt him, in warning of Kikyo, but now a woman in her stead._**

_"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."_

**_Eyes emblazoned a midnight hue so true, it gleamed black when touched by moonlight; her hair cascaded like silk, in a river of darkness over her shoulders, accenting her ecru skin. Clad in the scantily rendition of a priestess' garb, a katana slung low at her waist. In all her esthetic, lurked tragedy._**

**_Elegance tinged by sorrow. Kagome, actually pitied her. In the midst of her spurnful gaze, a mote of heartbreak and bitterness lingered there. Fierce as the aura that radiated off of her was, it was tainted by despair; the sword at her hip emanated a aura of it's own, more malicious and infinately more menacing._**

**_As she unsheathed it, it made a noise like a knife slicing through glass, a high-pitched screeching...as if the sword itself shreiked in agony over it's master's distress._**

**_Kagome overheard Inuyasha, whispering under his breath solemnly, a name, unfamiliar, not hers, nor Kikyo's._**

**_Kagome gasped, shaking her head, refusing to believe this! The name she heard, and repressed...it could not be! Kagome watched horrified the tears that misted in the woman's eyes. Inuyasha's gaze straying past Kagome, glistening like the glow of dawn, his expression so sincere and innocently breathtaking, " I'm sorry." he said to her, not Kagome._**

**_His gaze switched to Kagome, he mouthed, " I'm sorry." and pushed her out of his oath. The woman gripped her sword, brandishing it at Inuyasha._**

**_"So it has begun here..." she hissed, slow and foreboding, " then here it shall end!" her voice was suddenly bold and audacious. _**

**_Inuyasha mused, accepting his fate. Kagome pushed herself from the ground, wanting for it to end another way, but it was too late. The woman hurled her sword, aimed at Inuyasha's human heart. It shredded through thin air, stifling Kagome's screams._**

**_"INU-YASHA!"_**

**_XXXXXX_**

**_Kagome awoke, muddles and terrified, in the haven of her last period Literature class. She gasped for breath, trying to calm her fluttering heart. Her vision, hazed, cleared up slowly. Kagome almost toppled out of her chair, glimpsing the midnight blue gaze of her best friend. Kagome's mouth reacted unexpectingly, before she could restrain herself, she blurted out the name " Kikyo!"_**

**_Yui watched her with a cynnical stare. Miaka's face lit up with bewilderment, " Uh...What?" they both asked, bluntly._**

**_Kimiko inhaled so sharply, air hissed inbetween her teeth. she slammed her hand on Kagome's desk, snapping the girl from her daze. The hour hand on the cloack dwindled past the four, and she realized class was over."It was a dream." she sighed, relieved," I must've fallen alseep."_**

**_Yui and Miaka looked skeptical. " Really! It's all good" Kagome assured them._**

**_Then Kagome noticed, it wasn't her that they stared at. Kagome turned her head, and flinched. Kimiko nails dug into the wooden surface of her desk as she fumed with hatred. Kagome, pallid, cuffed her hands over her mouth. Now was not the time for stupid words to be flying out her mouth, not when Kimiko was like this. In realization, she'd never seen Kimiko so livid._**

**_The girl's cheeks reddened, her eyes iced over, "...WHAT...did you call me?" she hissed, in quiet fury._**

**_"Um..." what did Kagome call Kimiko? Kikyo...she called her best friend the name of the woman who was the source of Kagome's own heartache._**

**_Kimiko closed her eyes, feeling animosity and hostility fuming within her breath. After all this time, that damned woman still gets to her. Until now , she never recognized the woman's face now til she laid her eyes upon Kagome at that instant. In actuality, Kikyo and Kagome were almost Identical._**

**_She shook her head, dark ringlets dancing, " I-I-I need some water." She bent low, swooping down to snatch her backpack. She turned on her heel, and disapeared out of the classroom in a flash._**

**_Kagome held her stomache, feeling guilt churning this time._**

**_XXXXXX_**

**_The Restroom was empty, save fore the Janitor in clean up duty. Kimiko waited, dropping her backback at the door, for the Janitor to finish emptying the trash basins and leave before she took comfort in the last stall, farthest from the entrance._**

**_She dusted off the floor--the Janitor was such a lazy sweeper-- and curled against the wall, bringing her knee's to her chest. The plumbing creaked and the stall reeked of Comet and disinfectant wipes._**

**_"Inuyasha..." she whispered softly, a grief she neglected that spanned over 5 centuries arose within her, blinding her eyes with tears._**

**_It was not in her nature to lament for what she knew was not destined to be. She knew Inuyasha's love wasn't suited for , but to know that Kikyo was? That was a totally diffrent story. Though not proud to admit it, Kimiko wept many bitter tears before she left, starting on the path leading her home._**

**_It was Yui who caught sight of her leaving the school grounds. Miaka and a nervous Kagome dawdled not too far behind, straying the path of Kimiko's wrath. _**

**_Yui touched Kimiko's shoulder, a small gesture of her concern, " Kimi-chan, are you alright?" Kagome heard Yui whisper. Yui's expression was like that of her moms; worried and reassuring._**

**_Kimiko lowered her head with a darkened expression, " I'm just a bit nauseated," which wasn't a lie. She really did feel queasy. Looking up, Yui was taken aback by the dark, bruise-like circles under her friend's eyes--especially since they weren't there half a hour previously._**

**_"I think I'll go home." Kimiko murmured, bemused._**

**_Shrugging off Yui's hand and not bothering to look back at the woman who resembled Kikyo, Kimiko hurried across the street before the automated sign switched from "WALK" to "STOP" _**

**_"Wow Kagome..." Yui scratched her golden hair, " What'd you say to her, exactly? You must've really ticked her off."_**

_**Kagome looked down, feeling the guilt bubbling to her throat. **Real good einstein. I called her Kikyo...but why would she get so upset over THAT?! She doesn't even know Kikyo. She doesn't know anything about my life in the Feudal era. It's so strange. And I never noticed before...Kimiko's eyes...were the same color as that woman's...Kimiko looked alike like--_

**_"Kagome!" Miaka snapped Kagome from her thoughts, " What was it you called her? A secret word for an insult or somthing?"_**

**_"No, of course not!" she replied, " It just...slipped out, that's all."_**

**_Kagome stared at the sky, the sun beginning to set over the horizon. It was Friday, and she promised Inuyasha she'd go straight to the well afterschool. She'd better get home before he went off searching for him."Look, I have to get home and help my grandfather with the shrine." she said suddenly, " I'll see you guys later."_**

**_"But Kagome! You just got back today! We haven't seen you in, like, a week!" Miaka whined, " And Kimiko's been strange lately too! What's with you guys?"_**

**_Kagome laughed, nervously, " What're you talking about Miaka?"Kagome quickly changed the subject, " I'll see you guys soon! I promise, we'll hang out next week!" she ran across the street before they could protest, " I'll see you guys later! Call me!" she waved behind her._**

**_Yui snuffed, irritated by her friend's shadiness. Kagome--and probably Kimiko-- was hiding something and she was determined to find out what. But first thing's first," Well...we have to go to the Library anyway Miaka."_**

**_She groaned. Not the library!" Are you serious Yui-chan?"_**

**_"C'mon Miaka. If we catch the subway now, we'll be back in time to catch dinner."_**

**_"Ugh!" Miaka smacked her hand over her face. This was going to be a long evening._**

**_XXXXXX_**

**_Kimiko fumbled with the keys to the apartment. Finally, she twisted open the lock and pushing through the door. She stepped inside, locking the door behind her. " Hello!" she called, hearing her voice echo back, " I'm...home." she said, lower this time._**

_**Suichi was nowhere to be found, more than likely with Yusuke and Kuwabara. **Now that I think about it,**she yawned, **he did say something about tracking down Hiei.** She stepped into the Kitchen, sliding a glass from the cabinet.**_

**_Her mind throbbed; she rubbed her temples to fight off the oncoming headache. "Damn it all." she sneered, searching the kitchen countertop for Tylenol. She downed two with a glass of water, hobbling to her bedroom to rest._**

**_Inuyasha...Kikyo...she suppressed her memories of his betrayl, hurriedly finding herself bed and sprawling out over the old quilt, waiting for the drug to take affect._**

_He is NOT the one I love!_

**_Those words resonated inside her mind, each time calling up the image of the comely hanyou as she remembered him._**

**_Pallid skin that resembled alabaster; eyes that glistened with gilt and onyx irises that any gems would envy; soft, adorable ears and a mane of sheer white, whiter than a wolf's pelt in mid-winter. It cascaded down his back like silk._**

**_Kimiko had met Inuyasha centuries ago, in the lovely autumn season, though the circumstances under which they met was not so lovely._**

**_She was a young girl in Konan, who had wandered afar from her village without her brother, Tamahome. Unfortunately for her, she was rather docile and meek, only in her eighth year. Though trained under Tokaki, she was still inexperienced in the eyes of her sensei._**

**_While lost, she ran into a group of perverts with pedophilistic desires. In a fit, her pendent had gleamed and she found herself in a deeper, darker part of the forest. A forest she soon realized was nowhere near her country of Konan._**

**_Inuyasha, pursued by demons, had saved her from the same fate as he. Both were orphaned, no known family, all they had were each other. As a hanyou, he was spurned by the religious and superstitious, reguardless, she'd loved him all the same. Despite his fearsome appearance, she thought him beautiful._**

**_Admist her memories, she slipped into a distant slumber._**

**_It began in her fifthteenth year, on the eve of her sweet sixteenth. Kimiko was young, ordained in the service of budda at the tender age of 13._**

**_She luxuriated in the sacred baths, rifts of steam curling above the water's surface. The maidservant rubbed frangrant lavender oils into her skin and now fussed over her hair, tying satin ribbons about her loose ringlets. She grew agitated when Kimiko continued to shake the ribbons from her hair._**

**_"Oh!" she fussed, " Lady Kimiko, please! You must remain still if I am to prep your hair for the gathering."_**

**_Kimiko sighed, folding her arms at the rim of the bath, resting her head there, " Shrai, my birthday is not til tomorrow. Can you not do it then?"_**

**_She narrowed her eyes, appalled at Kimiko's suggestion. Obviously not, Kimiko thought to herself, " Just stick a hairpin in it and call it quits."_**

**_"M'lady, the priest specifically demanded that you be ready for the gathering. If you are to be inducted into full priestesshood, you must be ready to take up your vow of celibacy."_**

**_Kimiko trailed her fingertips along the tatami matt. She smiled wickedly at that, "Vow of celibacy."_**

**_"M'lady, it is umbecoming of a priestess to have impure thoughts." she pointed out, lacing a long, red ribbon at the crown of Kimiko's hair. Kimiko shook that loose as well, " Oh, Lady Kimiko!"_**

**_Kimiko sighed in frustration,turning her head over. Shrai made a crude comment about teenagers and their difficulty. All the while, Kimiko eyes lingered at a darkened corner of the room. Shrai had managed to catch all of Kimiko's curls in one, lustrous, crown at the top of her head, decked with bundles of scarlet and ivory ribbons._**

**_"Shrai...I think I'll bath unattended. I need time to dwell on things..." Kimiko said simply._**

**_"What?" she snorted. This was absurd, " But Lady--"_**

**_"You're dismissed." Without looking up, she waved Shrai away._**

**_She heard Shrai fumbling with her washbasin, before standing off and storming out the door, slamming it behind her. That was the benediction._**

**_Kimiko sighed, amusement in her voice, " You can come out now."_**

**_Inuyasha emerged from beneath the shadows, sniffing and holding his loose sleeve to his nose, " It's so strong."_**

**_"I know...I think Shrai does it purposely to bother you."_**

**_"I wouldn't put it past the old hag." Inuyasha mutter, sliding his arms into each sleeve and stepping casually about the bathchamber. He stopped right before the murky bath water. The water had dyed purple from the lavender oils._**

**_"Um..."Inuyasha glanced at her and flushed, his eyes darting now in every direction but hers, " Do you think you could put some clothes on?"_**

**_She winced, vexated by his temperance, " You've seen me naked before. It's no big deal." she wrinkled her nose._**

**_Inuyasha wrinkled his nose as well," Well...we were kids. You weren't so..." he flushed an even deeper shade of red._**

**_"So...what, Inuyasha?" she raised one arched brow._**

**_"...Just forget it." he turned away from her, plopping down to sit crosslegged on the tatami mat." Just hurry up."_**

**_"Does the smell bother you too much for you to come to my level?" she asked, trailing her fingertips along the rippleds caused by bubbles in the water._**

**_Inuyasha stayed silent. After a moment, he twisted around, crouching down and bringing his face level with hers."If I breath out my mouth, the smell won't bother me too much." he remarked._**

**_She smiled sweetly at him, and he flushed deeper still, thinking about their time together, as did she. Time he spent all alone, away from her these days. She hardly saw him anymore._**

**_These days, he spent all of his time with Kikyo. She grimaced at the thought of that name. What is it that Kikyo had to steal Inuyasha away as of late. "I never see you anymore." she blurted out._**

**_Inuyasha crawled back, thrown off guard by her question, " I don't understand what you're telling me."_**

**_"You don't?" she scoffed, "Inuyasha! You-" her voice rose five octaves and Inuyasha covered her mouth._**

**_"Are you insane?! They already don't like you being with me. If they found me in here, I'd be hunted down!"_**

**_She pursed her lips. Inuyasha had a point." Well, start spending more time with me. Just because you have a..." she could not bring herself to call Kikyo Inuyasha's woman. That would mean admitting to her that she'd lost Inuyasha to another woman, something her pride simply would not allow her to do._**

**_"Because I have a...what?" he brought his face closer to hers and she blushed, shutting her eyes. His golden gaze too mesmerizing for his own good._**

**_"Forget it."_**

**_His expression softened,"Kimiko." he reached out to loose the ribbon from her hair, a swarth of dark waves fluttered into his palms. She smiled at that,"Shrai is going to kill you." she giggled._**

**_"Bah!" he spat, fire in his stare, " Let her try. I'll be right here waiting."_**

**_Kimiko took his face in her hands, kissing him slowly upon his brow, " Just promise me not to forget about me."_**

**_"Don't be stupid." he sneered, sitting up, legs folded." And I'm here now so quit your whining.I'm not going anywhere..."_**

**_Those words echoed in her hearing, the calm voice and cool stare was more convinceing that brawn could've been. She rested her head on his knee and crooned gently to him, in the privacy of the temple's bath._**

_**Kimiko awoke to the warm glow of the sunset washing over her room. Groggily, she turned over on her side, the clock blinking on and off in bright numerals, **6:00 p.m. **It would be dark soon.**_

_**Kimiko wiped her eyes, still sluggish from her nap. The photo of her, Miaka, Yui and Kagome smiling right back at her from behind the glare on the glass frame. **Poor Kagome...I feel so guilty. It's not her fault she looks like...**Kimiko wrinkled her nose as if smelling something foul, **THAT woman. I should go apologize to her, and let her know everythings alright._

_**Kimiko swung her feet off the bed, sliding her toes into her shoes." I'll go over right now and tell her I'm sorry." That would be best. Besides, she felt compelled to do it. It made no sense for Kimiko to harbor ill-will over somebody she wasn't truly in loved with.**_

**_"I know the one that I love." and she would yearn for him til her day reckoning._**

_Donned in a kimono of sheer white and azure brocade, accenting the flawlessness of his tan skin, so smooth, so honey-toned; elaborate armor, violet prints with faded hues, tied together at his narrow waist by a sanguine sash._

_The vastness of his sapphire eyes, vaunting pride, carnal passion and mischeif all in it's depth; dark, silken hair bound tightly in a braid, soft whisps of bangs sticking up wildly at his brow, curling about his notorious four-point star._

_**For as long as she drew breath, she would never love another, for she knew it was he who she was meant to be beside. It was he who she had broken her vow and taken up new promises...it was he who risked all and everything, just to be with her. Although she repressed it with every fiber of her strength, she would never forget that day...when she lost it all.**_

_Thrilling terror shook her as she glimpsed the flames emblazoned in Bankotsu's blue eyes, his nostrils flared while the soldier twined his stubby finger in her blood-matted hair, snatching her from Bankotsu's grasp. _

_Kimiko faltered, fumbling backwards as a disgusting hand clasped her mouth," QUIET WENCH!" the soldier ordered, his breath husky and putrid from lack of washing,"or we'll do away with you like we did those other bastards."_

_No! Tears stung her eyes as she imagined only the worse. Pieces of her soul broke away, feeling the strangling ache of her heart as it was being torn apart. What was once brimming with passion and warmth was now empty and throbbed bitterly. No longer were they the Shichinintai. Everyone she held dear had crossed the threshold, into the afterlife, just like so many that preceeded them._

_Kimiko wept; She would never gaze at their beautiful faces ever again._

_" SON OF A BITCH!!!" Bankotsu bellowed in pure rage. In that instant, four soldiers pounced on him. Kimiko gasped, needed breath and to know that her beloved was unharmed._

_In anxiety, she watched frantically, hearing nothing resembling his velvet voice, and saw only pained expressions and thrashing limbs. When bodys suddenly fell back, Bankotsu lept into the air. Relief settled over her, but danger still surrounded them. _

_Her eyes strayed upward, the soldier that held her captive had seemed to have forgotten her prescence, too startled and enraged by Bankotsu's escape. Kimiko's head bobbed, and darkness blured her vision; remembering the arrow wound, blood gushed from her womb, the stitches Suikotsu put in place must've snapped when she fell. She glance at her blood stained hand, and almost vomitted._

_Damn, she thought. Opening her mouth, she jammed her teeth into the soldier palm. He reacted seconds later, screaming in anguish, smack Kimiko to the ground as he other hand instinctively flew to the one she injured._

_Bankotsu's feet touched the ground, his entire body covered in blood that was not his own. Watching helplessly the blood that foamed at his lover's lips. She held her belly, crawling towards him, just to have a foot stomp down hard on her back. She cried out, the Soldier grinding his foot in her spine. _

_It ripped his heart to shreds when the Soldier brandished his sword," You'll pay for that!" _

_Bankotsu bolted towards her, chest heaving for breath, but soldiers gathered from all around, intent on forcing him to the ground. _

_It was then, another soldier stayed the first one's hand, taking away his sword," Don't damage this one." he chided, clutching Kimiko's arm and hauling her to her knees." She'd catch a high price in the slave market. Since she's traveled with all those men, I'd wager she know's a fair trick or two..."_

_"You bastards!" he snarled," Let her go!"_

_She reached out a trembling hand, her eyes misting with hot tears, " Ban-Bankotsu..." she breathed so weakly._

_Bankotsu stared at her, eyes widened and gaping at the amount of blood that flowed in rivulets at her bare stomache, drenching the earth beneath her. She was dying. She was dying and he couldn't save her._

_He panicked."Kimiko!" dread consumed him, as well as horror. Without his comrades, he was all alone in the world with no one to quell that isolation. Without Kimiko...Bankotsu could not be alive._

_Unknown to him, Time distorted, coming to all but a halt. _

_Sephiroth drifted through a rift in a time and space, skimming along the barren earth. Graced in obsidian, dark wing beating effortlessly about his shoulders, he seemed unreal. The transience of his sallow skin accented by the shadow hue of his cloak; Silver mane falling like a river of moonlight over his broad shoulders, giving distinction in his malignant demeanor._

_Hearing the quickness of her breath, Kimiko's eyes darted to he beloved as he screamed her name, " DON'T FUCKING TOUCH HER!" he cried out to her again, feeling a barrage of hands forcing his head down. The soldier handed kimiko over to his subordinate, swinging the sword and advancing on Bankotsu, muttering a string of curses about how troublesome they were._

_"Bankotsu-" her consciousness ebbed, feeling this the last time she'd ever lay eyes on him in eternity." Bankotsu...I love..." she coughed and blood splattered everywhere._

_The soldier stood over him, holding the sword high above Bankotsu's head._

_"No...no..." his voice quivered in disbelief. She can't be dying...she can't be taken from him!" KIMIKO!!!" he screamed her name as loud as his lung could carry. Sephiroth placed a icy hand against her face, oblivious to anyone except her, stalling the death that tried to avail her. _

_Darkness ebbed from her vision, momentarily. She heard garbled versions of Bankotsu's screams before all became vivid. She reacted too late._

_Kimiko last memory was the flash of cold steel glinting in the winter sun before it so mercilessly swooped down upon her loved one's neck, silencing his screams forever._

_**That memory shall haunt her relentlessly, and follow her after death and into the fiery pits of the afterlife.**_

_**XXXXXX**_

_**Kagome slid the shrine's door behind her, the knapsack heavy on her back. Inuyasha sat, waiting on the edge of the well. One leg crossed over his knee, his arms folded within his sleeves. It took her long enough, " I was about to come looking for you." he said, tapping his foot rapidly against the well.**_

_**"I had to take a bath ya know! It's hard living in the feudal era and not knowing when your next bath will be!" which was somthing she wasn't proud of. Kagome looked down, she had changed back into her old green and white school uniform. Somehow, she felt comforted by it.**_

**_Inuyasha shook his head. He would never understand women as long as he lived. "Let's just go. It's getting late. We'll stay at Kaede's tonight and get and early start in the morning."_**

**_Kagome groaned. Just once, she'd like to sleep in. This shouldn't have to feel like work. It should be a thrilling adventure! It was like she'd fallen into a fairy tale, and she should be able to live it like one._**

**_"What's your problem?" he raised an eyebrow, glaring suspiciously at her._**

**_"Why do we have to get up so early in the morning. Don't you think we deserve a break?" she stomped her foot to send her point across more dramtically._**

**_Inuyasha did not waver. He scruntized her, begrudgingly." I suppose we should give Naraku a break too then." he did not bother to hide the sarcasm within his voice._**

**_"Fine!" she rolled her eyes. There was no point in arguing this with Inuyasha, " What happened while I was gone?"_**

**_Inuyasha, bemused, eyed her for a moment, as if debating whether or not he should tell her," Well..."_**

**_She took up the spot next to him, drawn in by his gaze, " Yes...?"_**

**_Where to begin? Kagome already knew Naraku disapeared, but what she did not know was that a new demonic aura replaced his."While you were gone, a new type of power descended in Naraku's absense. We don't know whose it is yet, but there have been reports of phatoms or something roaming about. Miroku believes that with Naraku gone, all the rabble have become free and possibly Ressurected."_**

**_Great. Zombies. This was turning into a real horror flick, " Alright. Let's go." She slid her pack off her shoulders and tipped it into the well. It vanished in a ray of purple light. Just as Kagome prepared to jump in, She over heard Shippo's screams through the open portal._**

**_"Sango! Watch out! It's a giant centapede!" the fox demon shouted._**

**_Inuyasha's ears twitched and he heard Kirara's shreik." A demon must've attacked." not wasting time, Inuyasha took hold of Kagome's waist."Hang on!" _**

**_Kagome held her breath, holding onto Inuyasha's robe. Inuyasha jumped into the well, journeying to the other side._**

**_XXXXXX_**

_**Kimiko stood at Kagome's door. No one had answered when she knocked, now she felt foolish for not calling ahead of time. Or maybe someone was home, but Kagome was too upset to see her. **No, that can't be it. Kagome isn't petty like that.**, she tugged at the hem of her skirt, **I should just come back tomorrow._

**_Yet, something compelled her to stay._**

**_A distant sound touched her ears and she turned to the direction it came from." Kagome?" somehow, she didn't think so. A burgular maybe? Suddenly, she recalled every fighting skill she ever learned, but it was useless. Koenma had bound her powers. At the time, when her father transported her to the modern era at Bankotsu's death, she was too emotionally unstable to control them and they proved more of a danger to her and those in the surrounding area._**

**_Kimiko stared at the palms of her hands, feeling weak and helpless. Bankotsu's voice ringing loud and vivid inside her ears._**

_"You're not weak! You were never so helpless!"_

**_As much as it pained her, her strength came from Bankotsu. And Renkotsu, Jakotsu, Suikotsu, Ginkotsu, Mukotsu and Kyokotsu. What she wouldn't give to see them again._**

**_The pendent dangled at the hollow of her neck, glowing softly, a beam of spiritual light leading her in the direction of the Higurashi shrine. She looked around, checking to see if anyone was present, then jogged across the yard, sneaking inside the shrine._**

_I feel so stupid. Like a horror movie waiting to happen. **Kimiko surveyed the room. Feeling something furry nuzzling at her leg she almost screamed. Looking down, she saw Kagome's chubby cat Buyo.**_

**_"Kitty..." she sighed, feeling stupid for being scared of a cat. Bending down, she lifted Buyo into her arms. The cat mewled and purred against her breast, playing at the jewel looped at Kimiko's neck. The jewel emanated a deep, violet and the well reacted. She heard voices._**

**_"Get out of the way Kagome!" the voice was low and husky._**

**_" Miroku, Be careful!" she regonized Kagome instantaneously._**

**_"It's all you Sango!" the voice Kagome called Miroku said._**

**_"Hiraikotsu!"_**

**_The voices faded and Kimiko gasped. Kagome...is in the well? If she were born in this time, she'd thought that strange...but after things in her life...The daughter of the Angel of Death bent on destruction, a priestess turned assassin...living with a demon and spirit detectives...her life was anything BUT normal._**

**_She let buyo down and walked to the edge of the well, peering inside. She saw violet light reacting to her pendent's gleam, her father's voice, deep and sinister, chanting in a maleficent aria._**

_Estuans Interius(burning inside)_

_Ira Vehement(with violent anger)_

_Venias, surgite(Oh come, arise)_

_Mei liberi(my child)_

_Mei bellus volaticus liberi(my beautiful, winged child)_

_Somnus est non (your rest is gone)_

**_Kimiko closed her eyes, a rush breaking over her skin as blood pulsed faster through her veins. The bright glow of power resonated inside her chest, threatening to unleash itself. The exotic insignia, 3 arcs warped around the sign of the gemini, etched into her forehead, and faded just as quickly._**

_**She clenched her fist, feeling pure, unrestrained power surging in her veins. **My father broke Koenma's binding spell. I don't know whether I should thank him or be suspicious._

_**She put on foot on the rim of the well, staring into the threshold. A voice, ominous yet beguiled, spoke gently to her, **Destiny named you of ill-birth, and I have given you the power to alter fate. Take it! What I have bestowed upon you!_

_**Kimiko felt a touch at the back of her neck, as if someone whispered into her ear, **"Go!"_

**_She was a fool to listen to him of all people. Yet what lured her was not his beckon, nor Kagome's voice..._**

**_It was love for another._**

**_She stepped up onto the rim of the well and jumped inside, swallowed by the violet light._**

**_XXXXXX_**

**_Inuyasha flexed his lengthened claws, soaring past Sango's Hiraikotsu as it returned to her hand." I'll finish this!" he growled, pulling back his hand." Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!"_**

**_The centapede skittered across the ground, launching into the air, crashing into Inuyasha head on. Inuyasha sliced through it like a knife through a tatter cloth. It's carcass scattered into a thousand pieces, dematerializing into dust._**

**_Kagome and Shippo cheered, relieved that that was over, " Yay Inuyasha!"_**

_**Inuyasha drifted, the wind billowing the thick, red folds of his kimono; his soft hair waving about his neck. Kagome gazed at him, her heart fluttering in her chest.** Get a grip girl! It's only Inuyasha_

**_Inuyasha basked in the coolness of the wind, lost in sudden euphoria as his nose inhaled a luxurious scent, one that triggered memories lost, but never forgotten. Inuyasha wandered in nostalgic bliss, the unmistakably smell of water mingled with rose petals._**

**_Kimiko found herself at the bottom of the well, yet she knew by the instinct that she'd traveled back to the past. It wasn't until she climbed up the vine and to the edge that she knew how far back she traveled._**

**_"I'm home." she felt around the rim, getting a firm grip before pulling herself up. Inhaling the clean air. It was Shippo who spotted her first._**

**_"AHHHHHHH!" Shippo screamed, jumping behind Kagome._**

**_"Shippo what's wrong?" the fox demon cowered in her arms. Miroku and Sango staring down at him with equal curiousity._**

**_"L-l-l-l-ook! A demon." he pointed a shaking finger to the well._**

**_All stared at the well, a waved of mixed emotions washing over them. Kagome gasped, and dropped the young fox demon from her arms. Someone other than herself had traveled through the well! And that someone was..._**

**_"Ki...mi..ko-chan?" Kagome froze, panicking. Now she knew her secret! Everything would be ruined!_**

**_"Ah...Kagome..."she sighed, her voice a mixture of quiet surprise and amazement, " I'm back home." she murmured gently to herself._**

**_"Home?" Kagome's heart sank." You...lived here?" her best friend had official lost her mind._**

**_Miroku, taken aback by their new visitor, tapped Kagome on the shoulder, his eyes fixated on Kimiko's uniform. The obsidian shirt rounded nicely at her ample breast, gaping open in a too much, not enough, fashion._**

**_"Kagome, who is this friend of yours?"_**

**_Kagome didn't speak, still taken by the awe of it. "My best friend is here in the...Feudal era..."_**

**_"Kagome, I--" Kimiko lost her breath suddenly._**

**_Inuyasha drifted in the air, beautiful as she remembered. She craned her neck, meeting his golden gaze with her midnight eyes. Inuyasha's expression had not changed. Serene, tinged by mild astonishment. Although he knew his Kimiko long dead, this woman looked just like her. Was she a reincarnation as well?_**

**_Inuyasha's feet touched the ground and they gazed at one another. Fear battled with anxiety within Kagome's chest as she watched the two, as did Miroku, Sango, a nervous Shippo, and Kirara._**

**_"Tell me...who are you?" he asked benignly. Was it possible...that it was the same Kimiko he grew up with?_**

**_She blinked once, her tone polite, a hint of awe lit her voice like music, " Inuyasha..." she soothed his named._**

**_Inuyasha's eyes lit up in shock, his breath caught quickly, "It is you."_**

**_She fingered the pendent at her neck, a pallet of emotions flowing through her. Fury, Hatred, Betrayl, Jealousy, Pain, and even Love. The jewel showing to her the memories she tried her hardest to forget. She no longer stared at him with innocent eyes._**

**_No, she glared at him with eyes brimming with hurt and rejection. The eyes of a lover scorned._**


	2. Kimiko's contempt

_Inuyasha...you were, in love with her, weren't you?_

_**Kagome felt weak, her knees threatening to give way beneath the sudden, and heavy, weight of her body. Her heart shattered all over again; just as Inuyasha had been with Kikyo so many times before, and he'd always chosen her over Kagome.**_

_**Now he would make that decision again.** It isn't going to be me. It never is._

_**Kimiko wept silently through narrowed eyes, Inuyasha dropping his head in shame, " Is that all that you have for me?" her feet touched the ground," Is that all that you can give me, after all these years?" not even a shred of remorse...**_

_**Kagome's heart wrenched as Kimiko turned away in sorrow, the jewel dangling at the hollow of her neck radiating vast amounts of light, recalling the last words between them.**_

_" You missed my ceremony. You didn't even bother to say 'Happy Birthday' to me either."_

_" I'm sorry."_

_"My mentors, they don't want me near you. I stood up for you though."_

_"I'm sorry."_

_" Is 'I'm sorry' all you can say to me Inuyasha?''_

_**K**__**imiko glared at Inuyasha with such virile hostility and furiousness, he cringed. Everything--his entire existence-- pissed her off. His posture, true cockiness and nonchalance; It said to her **Kimiko, I don't give a damn about you! You were just there to get me by._

_**"You forgot my birthday." she murmured, harsh revulsion in her now, malicious black eyes, " You...abandoned me for Kikyo."**_

**_Miroku's eyes flared. The young monk sidled backwards, carefully avoiding a detatched Kagome. " Another woman?" he had said while leaning over to Sango, the demon slayer, " Have you ever heard him so much a hint about another woman?"_**

**_Sango titled her head to the side in favor of Miroku, covering her mouth with her hand so only that the monk could hear, " No. Between Kikyo and Kagome, I did not think he had the time for another woman."_**

**_Shippo crawled out of nowhere, dangling from Sango's Hiraikotsu, slung across her back, " It was bad enough when he was a two-tymer, but now he's go-" Shippo held up the number of fingers on one hand, " THREE women."_**

**_"I have to admit...I envy him." Miroku sneered, somewhat jealous," What I wouldn't give to have three girls at once." Shippo bleched, disgusted at the perverted twinkle in his eyes._**

**_Sango antagonized him, cocking back her head and leaving him standing awkwardly by himself, " C'mon Shippo, Kirara. Let's leave the monk to his 'Fantasies'."_**

**_Inuyasha's expression warped, scandalized, " What are you talking about!? I never abandoned you!"_**

**_"Liar!", Kagome was first to notice the rippling aura engulfing Kimiko's body, " You lied then and you lie now!" her aura intensified, lashing out in every direction. The air thickened, heavy with spiritual energy._**

**_"What power is this!?" Miroku shook his head from side to side, slapped back into reality by a stroke of energy warding off and negating any spiritual energy withing the vacinity. What kind of spiritual power is strong enough to repel another?" This is unlike anything I've ever seen."_**

**_"Listen to me!" Inuyasha was determined to have her believe him, " You don't know what really happened!"_**

**_"Liar! You left me for Kikyo! You left me to die so you could be with her!"_**

**_The autumn dusk came at her beckon, the sunset setting the sky ablaze in sanguine majesty. A tempest of stray wind bowled through the valley, practically knocking Kagome from where she stood. She stumbled back into Sango's arms and the two of them went flying into Miroku._**

**_"Are you two ok?" he shouted above the wind. Shippo held fast to Kagome's sleeve to keep from being blown away._**

_**Inuyasha braved the wind, pushing forward in long strides.**Fuck! When did she become so powerful?_

_**Inuyasha shouted out her name, pushing back his scarlet sleeves, " Just listen to me!"**_

_**"NO!" she shot her hands into the sky, the wind kicking up dirt and grasses. **I summon thee to my side! Return to me, Kusanagi!_

**_A dot appeared in the sky, black and insignificant. It expanded, growing bigger and bigger until it blocked out the sun. It imploded, shadow and darkness coalescing to create a silver blade._**

**_The sword, much like the one in Kagome's dream, flew into Kimiko's hand, halting the wind. Suddenly, a vision over took Kagome._**

__

_He appeared in a flash of lightning. Stalking over a vast expanse of dull, black, ocean. __The Clouds that meshed above them shadowed his pale, luminous skin. _

_The only thing that stood out was his eyes. Those brilliant, emerald eyes sunk deep into his skull; behind them, somethin shadowed. Something of supreme horror and malice. Suikotsu didnt realize it truly, but he was seeing into the face of death._

_"Run." Bankotsu tried his best to pry Kimiko from where she stood but it was useless effort._

_"That's her father!" Bankotsu demanded to know. His voice erupting in a sort of Panic._

_"Uh-huh.Powerful bastard too." Suikotsu had told him. Sweat trickled down the back of my neck._

_In one long, metallic swish, He had unsheathed a sword, carved of the purest metal ever laid eyes on. It was at least 7 feet in length. This sword was vibrant with the flames of hell. One weapon that screamed of bloody murder. The blade itself bore hallucinations of blood and gore derived from past victims._

_**Kagome felt the bile rise in the back of her throat and she coughed to keep it down. What was it she just saw? a vision cast by the sword?**_

**_Kimiko sliced through the air, holding the sword in both hands in front of her, " DIE INUYASHA!"_**

**_Kagome gasped, " NO!" _**

**_Kimiko pounced on him, bringing her sword crashing down into a tree. Inuyasha hovered above her, dodging her swing at the last minute. "Fuck!" the tree, cut clean, fell behind her. Inuyasha was in the air, he was vulnerable now._**

**_She leapt into air, using the well for leverage. It happened so fast. She vanished into thin air, reappearing behind Inuyasha. She swung the blade, and it made a sound like thunder as it collided with Tetsusaiga's sheathe. It was all Inuyasha could do to stave off his attack._**

**_"Grrr..." she growled deep in her throat," Fight me back!"_**

**_"I won't!"_**

**_Kimiko pressed down on her sword, forcing him from the air and into the ground. Lightning elicited from where the swords clashed, Tetsusaiga rang out in agony. Both swords were crying._**

**_" Kimiko, you have to stop!"_**

**_"FIGHT ME BACK!" the sheath bent and an angle as Inuyasha sank deeper into the ground._**

_**Kagome couldn't take much more of this. She cried softly, **They'll destroy each other!_

**_She came to a decision, " Sango, let me go." she said, her voice toneless. She had to stop them. Both of them._****_Sango nodded her head, understanding the determined expression on Kagome's face. _**

**_Kagome let Shippo down and started off where Kimiko had Inuyasha pinned into the earth, still sinking. Kimiko's pendent pulsed in red light, and she heard voices of her past._**

**_Kagome was on her in seconds, placing her hands on Kimiko's shoulders, trying to reason with her, " Kimiko, you can't do this! Not like this!"_**

**_"No, you don't understand!" she screamed. Something wet touched Kagome's face. Kimiko's tears. She was crying._**

**_Tears fell onto Inuyasha's face, and he finally saw what he'd been afraid to face. Her eyes. The heartbreak as clear as daylight. _**

**_"Kagome, You don't understand!" she poured out her entire soul, " I've had everything I hold dear to me taken away! I no longer have the man I love!" her grip loosened on the sword, her power draining with her confession, " It's not fair to me! Everyone I ever loved is taken away from me and I feel so helpless because there's nothing I can do about it!"_**

_Kimiko last memory was the flash of cold steel glinting in the winter sun before it so mercilessly swooped down upon her loved one's neck, silencing his screams forever_

_**Kimiko dropped her sword, smoke curling off of the blade, her hands callous and bloody. Just like before...just like when Bankotsu was...**_

**_She cried out in grief, fainting into Kagome's arms._**

**_"Kimiko!" both her and Inuyasha cried out in unison. Sango, Miroku and Shippo rushed over with Kirara. All gathering around their visitor.Kimiko breathed raggedly, as if she suffocated, struggling for air. Miroku felt her forehead. Judging by the quickness of his hand to move away, she must be burning up. Kagome's arms shot protectively around her friend._**

**_All stared at Inuyasha._**

**_"Inuyasha..." Kagome began. Inuyasha stared up at her with knowing eyes." What happened...between you two, all those years ago?"_**

**_Inuyasha silenced, mulling this over. How exactly could he tell Kagome this?_**

**_He decided, with Kimiko around, that he had no choice in the matter." We'll take her to Kaede's for to rest. Then I'll tell you the entire story."_**


End file.
